The European Union’s political institutions have reached agreement over new rules designed to boost transparency around online platform businesses and curb unfair practices to support traders and other businesses that rely on digital intermediaries for discovery and sales.
The European Commission proposed a regulation for fairness and transparency in online platform trading last April. And late yesterday the European Parliament, Council of the EU and Commission reached a political deal on ... Tags: Google, Amazon, Android, Facebook, Ecommerce, Europe, Instagram, Ebay, Google Search, Tech, Eu, European Union, E-commerce, Search Engines, Competition, Commission

The European Union is expected to soon announce another antitrust fine against Google--this time related to its AdSense advertising platform, according to a report from Bloomberg. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who heads up EU competition policy, is expected to soon announce a fine for the AdSense product, sources told Bloomberg Thursday evening. It's unclear when exactly... Tags: Google, General, Advertising, Eu, Bloomberg, European Union, Margrethe Vestager

Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is set to announce a penalty targeting the AdSense advertising service in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the probe who spoke on condition of anonymity. Regulators were probing whether Google’s advertising contracts unfairly restricted rivals. The penalty will mark the culmination -- for now -- of more than eight years of active antitrust investigation into the U.S. tech giant. Tags: Google, Science, Margrethe Vestager

Amazon has released four new items related to toys recently, according to TJI, an Amazon-focused research group.
They are large items like play sets for toddlers and a bin for toy storage.
All four of the items were taken down.
The products are likely geared to small businesses like daycare or preschools, much like other products under the AmazonBasics umbrella.
Amazon: retailer, cloud-computing powerhouse, and voice-computing pioneer. And now, toymaker.
Amazon released on its website four ne... Tags: Amazon, Trends, Eu, European Union, Barbie, Margrethe Vestager, US Sen Elizabeth Warren, TJI Research, TJI An Amazon

Google is not complying with European demands that it must make the search for products fairer, rivals say. In an open letter to the EU's Competition Commissioner on Thursday, they wrote: We are writing to you as leading European comparison shopping services (CSSs) to express our collective view that Google's "compliance mechanism" in the Google Search (Comparison Shopping) case does not comply with the European Commission's June 2017 Prohibition Decision. It has now been more than a year since ... Tags: Google, Tech, Eu, European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, European Shopping Comparison Services Say Google, Google BBC

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday.
Samsung finally unveiled details about its foldable smartphone. The "Infinity Flex" runs on a special version of Android developed in partnership with Google, which works around its foldable display.
Eric Schmidt took the blame for Google's social networking failures. The former CEO admitted "I think it would be fair to say that the rise of Facebook... occurred on my watch," in a recent podcast interview.
Vice Media is cuttin... Tags: Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Europe, UK, Saudi Arabia, Ipo, Samsung, San Francisco, Trends, Linkedin, Nevada, Nancy Dubuc, Donald Trump, Shane Smith

Google was fined €4.3 billion ($5 billion) in July by the EU over its Android monopoly.
The EU gave Google 90 days to get its house in order, saying if it didn't, it could be fined up to 5% of its daily revenue for each day it fails to comply with EU laws.
That means it could have been fined as much as $15.2 million a day, on top of the $5 billion penalty.
Google filed an appeal against the ruling, but in the meantime, it will implement changes to comply with the EU's decision.
Google was fi... Tags: Google, Samsung, Trends, Eu, Commission, European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, EU Google, Alphabet Alphabet

Google's proposals to increase competition in online shopping are bearing fruit, Europe's antitrust chief said on Friday, suggesting that the company may be able to avoid further fines. Alphabet Inc's Google last year offered to allow price-comparison rivals to bid for advertising space at the top of a search page, giving them the chance to compete on equal terms, seeking to appease regulators after the European Commission fined it a record 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion) for favouring its own... Tags: Google, Europe, News, Eu, European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, Alphabet Inc

Amazon appears to be tinkering with how search pages on Amazon.com highlight the brands it owns.
It is testing a feature that encourages shoppers to check out items from these private labels by adding a link under search results, according to CNBC.
It's the digital equivalent of a store asking customers to compare its private-label brand with the name brand.
Amazon's use of private-label brands to compete with other brands on its website has recently come under scrutiny.
Amazon is putting mo... Tags: Amazon, Trends, Eu, European Union, Cnbc, Margrethe Vestager, AMZN, US Sen Elizabeth Warren

It’s been just over four months since Europe’s tough new privacy framework came into force. You might believe that little of substance has changed for big tech’s data-hungry smooth operators since then — beyond firing out a wave of privacy policy update spam, and putting up a fresh cluster of consent pop-ups that are just as aggressively keen for your data.
But don’t be fooled. This is the calm before the storm, according to the European Union’s data protection supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli... Tags: Apple, Google, Amazon, Security, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Europe, UK, Cook, Privacy, Social Networks, Law, Congress, California, Washington, Germany